Ensuring Compliance
KMCL lawyers are at the forefront of the law and regulation related to greenhouse gas emission controls.
Companies face a variety of challenges related to the regulation of industrial carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regulations by federal and state governments have spun out overlapping regulatory and transactional issues.
KMCL were early participants in GHG emissions regulations. Our experienced attorneys provide carbon management advice to conventional energy companies, infrastructure developers, renewable energy developers, airlines, owners of fleet vehicles, and many other companies impacted by these regulations.
Please contact Bob Mowrey, David Meezan, Paul Stockman, or Max Zygmont for more information on this area of KMCL’s practice.
Focus Areas
Carbon Capture & Storage
KMCL is recognized nationally for our unique expertise in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery.
Pulling from deep CCS expertise, our attorneys have testified before various legislative bodies on matters pertaining to the stewardship of storage sites. We have also participated in the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission’s working group for CCS regulations and have served on California’s Blue Ribbon Panel on CCS.
Kyoto Protocol
KMCL is a leader in assisting clients with carbon-driven transactions under the Kyoto Protocol. Our lawyers have worked on monetization strategies, project development, carbon finance, and trading and joint development agreements. We’ve also represented investors and developers of carbon-reduction projects worldwide under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development and Joint Implementation mechanisms.
Carbon Markets
An array of existing and fast-developing regulatory issues is creating distinct risk and opportunity in carbon markets. KMCL understands these issues and has done cutting-edge legal work related to the tax treatment of carbon credits and obtaining security interests in such units.
Since the onset of the concept of carbon markets, we have assisted clients with strategy, development, and trading of carbon credit assets in the U.S., the E.U., and other jurisdictions. We employ the techniques best suited to recognize carbon mitigation value, which can produce in cash flow crucial to project viability and success.
Carbon-Related Transactions
KMCL lawyers have completed carbon-related transactions in the United States, China, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Africa. We’ve negotiating emission reduction purchase agreements and structured carbon finance transactions. We’ve also provided clients with technical, economic, and policy advice related to renewable energy and carbon reduction projects.
Other Areas
- Conventional energy (coal, oil & gas, enhanced oil recovery, pipelines)
- Coal and petcoke gasification
- Mining
- Refining
- Renewable energy (geothermal, biomass, hydropower, wind)
- Transportation (ground, rail, aviation, maritime)
- Unconventional energy (shale, tar sands)
- Utilities (coal, natural gas, nuclear, integrated gasification combined cycle)
Representative Matters
- Advising a Fortune 50 chemical company on carbon reduction projects, including projects under consideration in Brazil, Russia, and Eastern Europe.
- Defending the largest municipality in Southeast and obtained favorable resolutions in administrative enforcement actions involving the municipality’s landfills and water reclamation facilities.
- Drafting a major federal climate bill for a major oil & gas company.
- Drafting easements for carbon dioxide storage in deep saline pore space.
- Drafting carbon loan agreements.
- Drafting carbon commodity swap agreements.
- Negotiating Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements under the CDM and the representation of buyers and sellers of credits on a bilateral and exchange basis, including for matters in Korea, Brazil, and China.
- Providing carbon management advice to a major CCS project developer and CCS credit aggregator.
- Providing carbon management advice to a major coal producer.
- Representing the developer of a pipeline that will transport industrial carbon dioxide from a gasification facility for use in enhanced oil recovery.
- Representing a local government in a landfill gas deal utilized as a part of a strategy by major University to become “carbon neutral.”
- Representing an investor in precedent-setting landfill projects in the United States and abroad involving a credit facility for both CERs and voluntary credits.
- Representing investors in a 250 MW run-of-the-river hydropower project in Peru, a project intended to generate Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
- Representing investors in a coal-bed methane clean energy project in Ukraine.
- Representing a joint venture partner in a major coal-to-liquids facility deal in Texas.
- Representing oil and gas interests in pore space acquisition transactions.
- Representing one of the world’s most highly regarded carbon investors and one of the world’s largest chemical companies on CER/allowance swaps under the EU-ETS.
Clients report that KMCL's “expertise is five star” and the team consists of “experts in their field with a deep knowledge of both the legal and environmental issues.”